The Reluctant (Teal) Independent

Teresa Russell (lead image) is a freelance writer and will be running for the Teals in the upcoming NSW election. In this guest post, Russell explains the party’s guerrilla marketing tactics ahead of the vote and competing against the very sizeable money pots of her Liberal and Labor rivals…

I imagine that in adland there’s a flurry of activity as major parties’ coffers are opened to pay for campaign strategies, branding, slogans and media buying pitches when an election is called. Congratulations to those of you who won accounts for the NSW elections on 25 March, the second largest in the country.

Also, good luck getting voters to forget the many transgressions, jobs-for-mates, ineptitude and hundreds of broken election promises by both major parties over the years!

More than a decade ago I spent six years getting ethics classes established in NSW public schools as founding CEO of Primary Ethics. After contending with governments doing backroom deals in their own self-interest – usually at a cost to public interest – I didn’t want to ever get involved in politics – or with politicians – again.

But now I’m number two on the ticket for the NSW Upper House for Elizabeth Farrelly Independents. I can no longer watch the two-party system offer the people of NSW a “choice” between Mr Barely Tolerable and Mr Hardly Electable, and a cavalcade of the usual professional politicians who’ve barely worked a day in the “real world”.

Our team of 15 independent candidates comprises highly accomplished women and select, highly-evolved men, all with wide expertise, diverse life experiences and backgrounds. But in a system heavily skewed towards incumbents, we’re running a DIY, low-budget, grassroots, guerrilla campaign. We’ve had to.

In 180 years, no independent candidate has ever been elected to the NSW Upper House, the Legislative Council.

Problem is, most voters don’t even know it exists or what it does. Like the Federal Senate, it’s a house of review, where we hope to make good legislation better and stop bad legislation becoming law.

And most voters confuse voting for an Upper House candidate with their own Lower House electorate, even though you can vote for your preferred local candidate and for Elizabeth Farrelly Independents in the Upper House – we’re on separate ballots.

The other big issue is that NSW has “optional” preferential voting – meaning you can just put 1 above the line. If you vote below the line, you have to number every single box, often running into the hundreds on the Upper House “tablecloth” ballot paper. Most people don’t bother.

Elizabeth Farrelly

To get around these challenges, Elizabeth Farrelly, the former Sydney Morning Herald (and now Saturday Paper) columnist who’s confronted rampant maldevelopment, corruption, environmental and social issues for over three decades, adopted the Keep Sydney Open party and renamed it Elizabeth Farrelly Independents (EFI) get above the line on the ballot.

Although nominally a party to get above the line, there’s no “party line”. Every candidate’s vote is a conscience vote, and no one’s principles ever have to be sacrificed for party, faction or donor interests. Imagine that!

But despite our innovative structure and well-known top candidate, big media is almost impenetrable. The ABC won’t feature election candidates apart from incumbents. Forget 2GB or News Corp outlets. And the only coverage we’ve had in Elizabeth’s former paper has been a few inches in the CBD gossip column.

So, without the “Laboral” parties’ money or coverage, we’ve taken a strategic approach. Over the next few frenetic weeks, via social media and public events, we’ll target the vast number of NSW voters who care about liveable communities, urgent climate action, and honest government. We’ll persuade them that truly independent and trustworthy people can and should hold the balance of power in the NSW Upper House, delivering positive outcomes for everyone in NSW, whoever they are, wherever they are. Watch this space!

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Teresa Russell